This page has been set to reach out and lock arms with a dad, brother, son and incredible friend of ours from the beautiful country of Cambodia.

His name is Phea (pronounced Pia).

In November 2019 myself and a motley crew of people from the Isle of Wight, headed out to Phenom Penh to spend a week in the jungle. Here we were to build a water purification tower for a remote school where the children were at risk of disease due to lack of access to clean water.

The person who connected us with the school, arranged our entire trip, guided us to the jungle, stayed with us each night, dug cement, laughed with the local kids and celebrated us every night with music, laughter, dance and games ... was Phea.

He's the guy in the middle with the red top and amazing smile!

One night, in the early hours of the morning, a woman came to our compound crying and distraught because her baby had dengue fever, had fitted and was now unconscious.

It was Phea who instantly jumped in the van and drove the woman and her baby to the hospital, many miles away. He returned the next morning, exhausted and swollen eyed, yet still dug in and helped with building the water tower.

This was the beauty of what we saw in Cambodia. The people had each other's backs. Even if they didn't know each other, they HELPED each other.

Which brings us to now.

Pointing out that Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on people all over the world, is ... well ... unnecessary.

We all know how it's affected our own lives. But for most of us we've been helped out, given mortgage holidays and had support in terms of loans, grants and furloughing. We're holding fire, sitting tight and waiting to see what happens next.

In other countries this isn't the case. It isn't the case for Phea and his little family and kids.

Phea wasn't part of a big commercial tour company. He had built up his business through his good heart, wit, intelligence and a small fleet of bicycles - which allowed him to take tourists on tours around his beloved Cambodia. Word of mouth about his tours has underpinned his business, helping to bring up his young family and employ others in his community.

With the collapse of tourism in Cambodia, Phea has lost his livelihood. He'll need to find new short term ways to support his family over the next 12 months but in the meantime is highly unlikely to find the extra money needed to pay for the loan he has on his bikes.

This Go Fund Me page has been set up for us to reach out and lock arms with Phea and raise the £3000 he needs this year to maintain the payments for his bicycles. In being able to keep up with the repayments on his bikes means his business will still have it's vital assets when tourism is restored in Cambodia.

We are determined to have his back ... and help him in the same way that he freely supports and helps so many people in his community. He absolutely deserves it.

To have your support in Phea's corner would mean the world to him. And us.

Thank you.

From

The motley Isle of Wight Crew who went to the jungle to build a water tower and all of Phea's friends who are backing him near and far. xx